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''Ventura'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Anderson .Paak. It was released on April 12, 2019, by 12 Tone Music and
Aftermath Entertainment Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre himself, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, An ...
. It features
guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...
s from
André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a part of southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. B ...
,
Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
,
Lalah Hathaway Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer. In 1990 Hathaway released her first album titled ''Lalah Hathaway''. After releasing another album, titled '' A Moment'' (1994), it debuted at number 34 on the To ...
,
Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...
,
Sonyae Elise Sonyae Elise is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles who won the inaugural and only season of ''Platinum Hit'', a '' Bravo'' American television channel show about competing emerging songwriters. Her prizes included $100,000 as a ...
, and
Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
, along with posthumous vocals from
Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...
. ''Ventura'' was supported by two singles: "King James" and "Make It Better". The album received widespread acclaim and debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It is Paak's first US top 10 album. The album won
Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...
at the
2020 Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Ali ...
.


Background

In May 2018,
Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...
leaked the title to Paak's third album, ''Oxnard Ventura'' during an
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
livestream. However, the title of his third album was later changed to ''
Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
''. Paak has stated in interviews that Dre let him have more freedom with the production on ''Ventura'', following the more tightly produced ''Oxnard''. In a March 2019 interview for ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'', he said, " relet me have a lot of leeway on ''Ventura''. He was like, it seems like you got it. I spread my wings on the production and on the writing and on these collaborations". The album was released on April 12, 2019, just six months after his last full-length album, ''Oxnard'', which Paak wrote and recorded at the same time.


Promotion

The album's lead single, "King James", was released on March 15, 2019. The song was produced by Callum and Kiefer. The album's second single, "Make It Better" featuring
Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
, was released on April 4, 2019. The song was produced by Anderson .Paak,
Fredwreck Farid Karam Nassar (born June 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Fredwreck, is a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop recording artist, DJ and record producer. He got his big break when he became a producer for Dr. Dre's newly founded re ...
, and
The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...
.


Critical reception

''Ventura'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 82, based on 19 reviews. Aggregator
AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...
gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Kitty Richardson of ''
The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...
'' gave a positive review, stating "With sumptuous harmonies and a live band locked in on every track, .Paak finds a sweet spot between throwback soul and the 21st Century dancefloor. He sounds like the best version of himself. ... An exceptional return to form". Will Hermes from ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' stated, "Paak's output is keeping pace with his ambition. But good as his records have been, this set included, you still get a sense that the best work still lay ahead".
Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' spoke on the album saying "''Ventura'' sounds like the work of someone intent on fixing the flaws in its predecessor. Paak's tendency to supercharge the production for commercial appeal has been reined in. The sound centres around an appealingly stripped-down take on mid-70s
Philly soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...
". Jack Shepherd of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' also praised the album saying "Rather than being an album of ''Oxnard'' offshoots, ''Ventura'' instead borrows heavily from .Paak's consistently brilliant 2016 record '' Malibu'', itself a fresh slice of soulful funk". Jordan Bassett of ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' called the album "a lush '70s soul-inflected record" commenting that "Last year's ''Oxnard'' referenced his childhood in the titular Los Angeles neighbourhood, while this latest album name-checks Ventura, the sun-kissed Californian coastal town in which, he's explained, he 'found isdepth' as a teen". ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' critic Ryan B. Patrick said, "It's a super-charged R&B record, laced with throwback
Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
/Philly grooves, that hits hard but fails to land a knockout blow. It seems to be a case of not being able to fully satisfy the hip-hop heads, the R&B fans and the amorphous genre-less Venn diagram in between". Sheldon Pearce of ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' said, "This tune-up album, at the very least, restores the underlying feeling of his signature stuff. But there, too, lies its flaw: it's a hollow effort lacking in any real distinguishing characteristics. The album never becomes more than the sum of its sounds".


Year-end lists


Industry awards


Commercial performance

''Ventura'' debuted at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200, earning 55,000
album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...
s, of which 39,000 were pure album sales. It is Paak's first US top 10 album.


Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer Sample credits * "Come Home" contains a sample from "Best One", written by Glen Boothe and Brandon Anderson, and performed by
NxWorries NxWorries (pronounced as "no worries") is an American music superduo consisting of recording artist Anderson .Paak and record producer Knxwledge. They are signed to Stones Throw Records and released their debut studio album, '' Yes Lawd!'', in ...
. * "Winners Circle" contains excerpts from the film, ''
A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of ...
'' (1993), performed by
Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013.
is an American ...
and
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
, courtesy of
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. * "Chosen One" contains a sample from "On The Level", written and performed by
Mac DeMarco MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV; April 30, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco has released six full-length studio albums, his debut ''Rock and Roll Night C ...
.


Personnel

Credits adapted from
Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...
. Musicians * Anderson .Paak – vocals (all tracks), production (1–3, 5, 8), additional production (4), drums (1, 3, 5, 7), percussion (1, 4), additional drums (11) *
André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a part of southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. B ...
– featured artist (1) *
Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
– featured artist (2) *
Lalah Hathaway Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer. In 1990 Hathaway released her first album titled ''Lalah Hathaway''. After releasing another album, titled '' A Moment'' (1994), it debuted at number 34 on the To ...
– featured artist (3) *
Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...
– featured artist (5) *
Sonyae Elise Sonyae Elise is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles who won the inaugural and only season of ''Platinum Hit'', a '' Bravo'' American television channel show about competing emerging songwriters. Her prizes included $100,000 as a ...
– featured artist (8) *
Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
– featured artist (9) *
Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...
– featured artist (11) * Adam Turchin – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone (11) * Alekos Syropoulos – horn arrangement, horn, saxophone (7) * BJ the Chicago Kid – background vocals (1) * Callum Connor – production (6, 7), drums (3) * Chris Gray – trumpet (11) * Cocoa Sarai – background vocals (8) * Dan Edinberg – bass (3) * Danny McKinnon – guitar (3, 5, 9) *
Dem Jointz Dwayne Allen Abernathy Jr. (born July 17, 1976), better known by his stage name Dem Jointz, is an American record producer. He has produced tracks for numerous artists including Rihanna, Anderson .Paak, and NCT, among others. He also co-prod ...
– production, background vocals (3) * Durand Bernard – additional vocals (4) * Erick "Baby Jesus" Coomes – bass (11) *
Fredwreck Farid Karam Nassar (born June 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Fredwreck, is a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop recording artist, DJ and record producer. He got his big break when he became a producer for Dr. Dre's newly founded re ...
– production, guitar (2, 11), keyboards (2), percussion (7), additional percussion (10), piano (11) * J. P. Floyd – trombone (11) * Jairus "J. Mo" Mozee – production, guitar, bass (1) * Jhair "JHA" Lazo – strings (2) * Jose Rios – bass (2), guitar (3, 8) * Justin Dicenzo – strings (3) * Kadhja Bonet – strings (1) * Kelsey González – additional production (4), bass (2–4, 8, 11), guitar (3, 4) * Kiefer – production (6, 7) * Lola A. Romero – strings (2) * Marcus Paul – horn (3, 10), additional horn (10) * Maurice Brown – horn arrangement (1) * Mell – additional production, drums (4) * Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – strings (2, 3) * Norelle – additional vocals (1, 4) * Olivia Braga – background vocals (9) * Paul Castelluzzo – guitar (7) *
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
– production, additional vocals (10) * Pomo – production (3, 5, 9), additional keyboards (3), synth bass (5), bass, keyboards (9) * Ron Avant – additional keyboards (3), keyboards, vocoder (8), piano (11) *
Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
– background vocals (1, 7, 8) * Stalone – background vocals (3) *
Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...
– horn (10) *
The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...
– production, drums (2) * The Free Nationals – production (3) * The Regiment – horn (1) * Vicky Farewell Nguyen – production (3, 4), background vocals (1, 6), piano (1), additional keyboards (3) Technical *
Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...
– executive production, mixing (all tracks) * Eric Gonzalez – assistant engineer (1, 3) * Fredwreck – engineer (11) * Focus... – mixing (all tracks) * Jhair "JHA" Lazo – engineer (all tracks) * Ken Oriole – engineer (1) * Lola A. Romero – assistant engineer (1, 4, 5, 8, 10), mixing engineer (all tracks), engineer (2, 3, 11) * Mike Larson – engineer (10) * Quentin Gilkey – mixing engineer (11) * Thomas Cullison – assistant engineer (10) * Vic Luevanos – engineer (11) * Zumo Kollie – assistant engineer (9)


Charts


References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Anderson .Paak albums Aftermath Entertainment albums Albums produced by Pharrell Williams Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Grammy Award for Best R&B Album